NOUMEA - A young woman was killed in a shark attack on Sunday while swimming off the Loyalty Islands archipelago in French New Caledonia, police said.

The 23-year-old victim, who had headed out with a friend for an early morning swim, bled to death after suffering a deep shark bite running all the way from knee to hip.

Her friend managed to swim ashore to ask local tribesmen for help, but they were too late.

An analysis was underway to determine which species of shark was responsible for the attack, which occurred some 200 metres (yards) offshore from Lifou, one of four islands in the South Pacific archipelago.

The victim, a nurse from mainland France who had just finished a hospital contract in Noumea, was in Lifou for a short beach holiday before flying home.